Cruel Elephant Polo game in Thailand coming up soon

[Guest guest]

Hello,

Anybody protesting this game in Thailand? Please do everything

possible to stop this ghastly act of animal abuse. I have seen elephant polo

games in Thailand, they are cruel and absurd and only make the work of

giving captive elephants a better life more difficult. Please spread the

word and write letters. Please put an end to the torture of these

defenceless creatures under human tyranny.

Regards,

 

Sheryl

 

http://www.ftnnews.com/content/view/4750/26/lang,english/

<http://www.ftnnews.com/index.php>Wednesday

Feb 18th

Audemars Piguet and Anantara Trumpet the 2009 King's Cup Elephant Polo

Tournament

 

King's Cup Elephant Polo Tournament

Audemars Piguet and Anantara Trumpet the 2009 King's Cup Elephant Polo

Tournament

Published by Ozgur Tore

Monday, 26 January 2009

Anantara Hotels, Resorts & Spas has announced the 2009 dates for the King's

Cup Elephant Polo Tournament. The highly popular event will take place from

March 23 to March 29 in the northernmost region of Thailand known as the

Golden Triangle.

This year's event is once again sponsored by Audemars Piguet - one of the

world's oldest and most prestigious watchmakers - and will see 12 teams go

trunk to trunk to win the coveted King's Cup trophy.

 

An opening parade and blessing ceremony will be held in Chiang Saen town on

March 23 to showcase the culture of the Golden Triangle region with northern

traditional-style dancers, hill-tribe villagers in traditional costume,

elephant spirit men (Khru Ba Yai), and colourfully decorated pachyderms. The

parade will mark the kick-off of the weeklong competition held on the banks

of the Ruak River which divides Thailand from Burma

 

During the first five years of the tournament, the event took place in the

Royal seaside town of Hua Hin before moving to the native home of elephants

in 2006 – the Golden Triangle. The tournament was introduced to Thailand in

2001 by Anantara Resorts and is a charitable event that raises money for the

country's National Elephant Institute in Lampang, northern Thailand.

 

In just seven years the King's Cup Elephant Polo Tournament has gone from a

small two-day event with six teams into a week-long extravaganza, which in

2008 featured 12 teams from four continents, encompassing 40 players from at

least 15 countries.

 

Through its own Elephant Camp located within the grounds of the Anantara

Resort Golden Triangle, the property's focus on the future of Thailand's

pachyderm population forms an integral part of the resort's operations. On

an ongoing basis, resident Elephant Camp Director, John Roberts, works

closely with the Thai government's Elephant Conservation Centre in Lampang

to develop Anantara's camp as an elephant sanctuary.

 

To date the tournament has raised over US$200,000 for the National Elephant

Institute, which provides medical care, sustenance, employment, and mahout

training to Thailand's elephant population. In 2008 the funds were used to

run the custom build ambulance that was donated at the opening ceremony of

the most recent tournament. It is estimated that Thailand has around 2,500

domesticated elephants and 1,500 wild elephants. This is down from an

elephant population of around 50,000 in 1950 and 100,000 in 1900.

 

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) fully endorses the King's Cup

Elephant Polo tournament, having identified it as one of the country's prime

annual special events. It will take place in the grounds of Anantara Resort

Golden Triangle, and spectator entrance is free.

 

For more information on King's Cup Elephant Polo, please visit

www.anantaraelephantpolo.com Anantara Resort Golden Triangle is located 60km

north of Chiang Rai's international airport. For enquiries and reservations,

please call + 66 (0) 5378 4084 or + 66 (0) 2 477 0760 or email

infogt This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots,

you need JavaScript enabled to view it . For more information please visit

www.anantara.com.

Last Updated ( Monday, 26 January 2009 )